Dying Room Only

Apparently there was enough interest in "Dying Room Only" that made Warner Bros. release this on DVD on 1/19/10. Its on a web-site called www.warnerarchive.com. This is also a re-mastered print which isn't too common for made-for-TV-movies. I just ordered mine and it is definitely worth the investment. TV airings of this movie have all since passed and probably won't get the time of day any longer, so the DVD is worth it's weight in gold. ($19.99) It is crystal clear and the movie is un-cut. There aren't any extras or special features but it is still a treat. Kudos to Warner Bros!! (who has the Lorimar Productions library of movies).

Dying Room Only is another one of those great 70's made-for-TV movies. This one is about a couple (Jean and Bob) travelling on a desert road who stop at a roadside diner/motel. The two people they meet in the diner are your typical angry, rude, city hating hicks. When Jean returns from the restroom, her husband is missing. The two men do not help her out at all with her search, in fact make things even more difficult for her. She calls the sheriff, but he ends up being no help. Did the two men do something to Bob, or did he simply take off leaving his wife deserted in the desert?

This is such a great little gem. Cloris Leachman is great as the heroine, you feel how helpless she feels when trying to get one of the men to help her find Bob. She is a very rootable character. There are some pretty tense moments throughout as well near the middle to end of it, pretty good for a TV movie. I was pleased to find out this was released on DVD, if you can find it for an affordable price; pick it up.

8/10

A favorite t.v. movie from the 70's. Again, Richard Matheson creates atmosphere and suspense out of almost nothing as a couple stops at a remote diner/motel and the husband never returns from the bathroom. From the bathroom? Who writes a suspense movie where the husband apparently falls in the toilet? The man who brought you the vindictive 16 wheeler of "Duel." Unlike that clever but overpraised feature, "D.R.O." (What's up with that title? It can't be a play on "S.R.O." can it? You don't buy tickets for the toilet?) stays close to realistic scale, and the less than apocalyptic climax is a face-off by two determined middle-aged women. Complain all you want - it worked for me then, it works for me now.

Is Richard Matheson awesome or what? Who else could conceive of something so simple and sinister as a woman's husband disappearing in a men's room at a broken down café in the desert? The same guy who conceived of a monster truck stalking a beleaguered motorist to great effect in "Duel," and that's only a slight sample of the other legendary tales he's penned. His skill at deriving something so evil out of the ordinary is very comparable to Stephen King at his '70s peak with "Night Shift" and "Dying Room Only" is indicative of that prowess --- it still makes an impact on people I show it to today.

The great news is that this film is now widely available as part of the Warner Archives collection, remastered in widescreen, and though there's nothing but the film on the disc, it's a bargain at about $10.

The locals, played by Ross Martin and Ned Beatty are creepy and cruel, the motel night clerk is surly and obtuse. It's really all on Ms. Leachman to figure it out, and Chloris does a really fine job here: she transmits her urgency and controlled panic without making herself into a blithering, hysterical wreck. She's a strong heroine. Dabney Coleman is almost unrecognizable as her husband, here, he's so very young looking.

I've heard many comparisons to "Breakdown" but this film is really only similar in plot structure. Breakdown was an adrenaline fueled roller coaster ride that was definitely one of the better road thrillers ever produced. DRO is more a psychological head-game and a mystery, more suited to rainy evenings at home than crowded nights at the multiplex. Pick it up, before they remake and ruin it.

I just saw "Dying Room Only" for the first time in over 30 years, and this is a typically great 70's TV-movie thriller. A couple (Cloris Leachman looking pretty good, and hubby Dabney Coleman) stop at a lonely desert cafe (in the daytime, not the nighttime as the summary here states) and the husband disappears as the wife is in the ladies room. The only two possible witnesses (the cafe cook and customer Ned Beatty, in a great sleazy role) are saying nothing. What happened? Where did the husband go? The movie then takes off to have Cloris Leachman trying to figure it out, since she is getting almost no help at all from anyone. Is even the local cop in on it, whatever "it" may be? Everyone is suspect. Nighttime comes, and danger looms....

I do agree with the reviewer that stated this film could have been better in the second half. The first half is amazing - very suspenseful and thrilling. The second half kind of veers into "typical" fare but is still decent.

A bunch of familiar 70's faces round out the small cast. Especially since the film is fairly short at about 1:13 (most TV-movies back then were 90 minutes with the commercials) this is definitely a fun watch.